Fifty Words
by okama-kenpo
Summary: Fifty responses to fifty single-word prompts, featuring Usopp, Nami, and the rest of the Straw Hats. The entire collection will form a series of moments that tell the tale of the various intimate relationships forged aboard the Thousand Sunny over the course of many years. [Prompt Twenty-one - Blatant]
1. Garble

**1.) Garble**

* * *

"It's his birthday! What'm I supposed to do?" Sanji laughed, a glass of wine in his hand. Nami narrowed her eyes at him.

"He's totally belligerent!"

"He's fine," Zoro grumbled from his spot on the ground, leaning against the railing, bottle of liquor in hand.

A few feet away, Usopp yelled something that sounded like it was along the lines of him agreeing enthusiastically with Zoro, but his speech came out all garbled and he didn't actually form any of his words successfully. The effort was there, though.

Stumbling back and forth with the sway of the ship under the moonlight, he fell to his knees, doubling over in laughter. Nami wasn't sure what he found so funny, but she didn't bother asking. Not twenty seconds later, the captain was there, rubbery arm slinging around Usopp's shoulders. He slapped a drink into the sniper's hand.

"Usopp! Let's go!"

"Okay!"

The two half-bounced, half-tripped their way down to the lawn, linking arms at the elbows and spinning in circles, casting long shadows under the lights of the chinese lanterns they'd hung up around the ship to celebrate the occasion. Usopp dropped his drink and threw himself to the ground in anguish over it.

"See? It's not entirely my fault," Sanji said behind a wry smile.

Nami looked down at the dark liquid that filled her flagon. "I don't even know where you got alcohol that strong."

"It's not _that_ strong," Zoro interjected.

"It's _Usopp_."

Zoro snorted. "Either way, you're one to talk of being devious."

"I don't wanna hear it from you right now!"

"Yeah! You stupid meathead! How dare you insinuate something so ridiculous towards my sweet Nami-swan!"

Instead of responding in the typical aggressive fashion, Zoro took to his bottle, craning his neck back as the liquor burned down his throat. Sanji rolled his eyes and turned back to Nami.

"Anyway, Nami-san, don't worry! He's got it. Have faith in our sharpshooter!" Sanji grinned around a newly lit cigarette, his cheeks illuminated by the glow of the cherry when he sucked on it.

Nami scoffed and lifted the flagon to her lips.

"You don't believe me? Just watch!" In a stream of smoke, Sanji called down to the lawn, "Oi, Usopp!"

Both Luffy and Usopp looked up at the cook, wobbling around barefoot in the grass. As the ship rocked with the ocean, Usopp teetered and galumphed sideways.

"What!" he shouted back, his ankles becoming a bit tangled.

Turned to the side with the smoking cigarette hanging from his lips, eyes on Nami, the chef yelled, "Shoot the cherry off my cigarette!"

In the middle of nearly tumbling over, Usopp pulled his slingshot from where he'd tucked it in his waistband and fished a marble or something similar out of his left pocket.

Sanji was beaming at the navigator as the burning cherry on the tip of his cigarette suddenly disappeared into the darkness.

"See?" he said as he lit it for the second time, "He's fine!"

Exasperated, Nami finished her drink.


	2. Voluntary

**2.) Voluntary**

* * *

Usopp didn't know if it was even voluntary or not - when he did things like pull her away from an incoming attack, or grab her hand to sprint away, or latch onto her in moments of panic. When he touched her.

And likewise, Nami didn't know if it was intentional or not when she held onto him even tighter.

The way they shifted towards one another when surrounded by a crowd, friendly or not, or the way they would find themselves shoulder to shoulder late at night, confessing secrets they hadn't realized they'd been hiding… these things all happened gradually over time.

For two people so well-versed in the art of bullshitting, neither seemed to be able to help but drop all pretenses around the other. They'd created some sort of habit of experiencing extreme emotions together.

Emotions like self-doubt. The fear of not being good enough. The shame of being weak. Before they ever knew each other the way they did now, she'd gone to him and pleaded for him to make her stronger with a new weapon. So she could fight alongside the rest of the crew. A lifetime later, he'd finally broken down in front of her, beaten and bloody, sobbing that he was so weak, that he was too ashamed to face the others, that he'd lost the money that was so precious to her - to them all.

For them, for some reason unspoken, there couldn't have been anyone else to hear those words.

The first time she'd been separated from him, she'd cried, yelled at Luffy to go find him, to bring him back. Back to her. Because without him, she was missing something crucial. It'd been like her left arm was suddenly taken away. The second time, the separation had been so long that she couldn't help but crush him in a veracious embrace the moment she saw him again. Had that been intentional?

She'd felt like she'd lost part of herself and was finally getting it back.

She'd felt complete again.

It felt like gravity was pulling them together.

Neither had decided for things to be this way. But now, after growing up feeling so alone, so different and separated from the people they'd lived around, so isolated in the homes they'd raised themselves in, they had found, for the first time, someone that knew that exact feeling. Not someone who sympathized, but empathized.

So maybe it wasn't voluntary. Maybe it wasn't intentional, how they loved each other the way they hated themselves. How they blamed themselves the way they immediately forgave one another. How they lied to everyone else, but when they were around each other, found they could only try to pull the wool over their own eyes.


	3. Compete

**3.) Compete**

* * *

Franky thought it was funny when he'd first realized what was going on. Robin had noticed it too, so maybe it was just them being older. But Brook didn't seem to pick up on it, so then again, maybe not.

It was obviously a subconscious thing, and it was very subtle - but it was deffinitely there, absolutely.

There was a competition going on amongst some of the Straw Hats.

He and Robin had sat up in the crow's nest discussing it late one night. It was more evident in Sanji than anyone else, but Zoro and even Luffy were guilty of it too: there were times when they would compete against Usopp for Nami's attention. And nobody realized it.

It was never a blatant sort of thing, but at times, the boys would find one way or another to squeeze between the navigator and the sniper, either physically or verbally. If Usopp or Nami even noticed it was going on, they certainly didn't act like it.

"Why is that, I wonder?" Robin said to the cyborg, smiling a little and tapping her bottom lip.

"You think those two go at it?"

"That's certainly one way to define it, Franky."

"So you think they're cock-blocking him?"

"_Franky!_"

Throwing his head back and laughing loudly, Franky's mirth was infectious. Robin chuckled a little, always so soft and contained and beautiful.

"Are you super sure that twiggy little kid has it in him?"

"He's not so small anymore, remember? He's grown into a man." Robin smiled behind her coffee, fingers intertwined around the delicate white cup.

"Oh, yeah. I always forget he's all super robust and rugged now. Heh!" Franky laughed again, "Maybe you're right, then!" He leaned forward, raising an eyebrow high above his grand smile, "Wouldn't be the first time."

Robin curled her lips in, trying hard not to grin so openly as she wanted. But the more he went on about the very idea of their nakama being closer than they let on, the more she felt the control she was so proud of slipping away. Joining Franky in his cackling, she tried hiding behind her hand a bit, and she mused briefly over how wonderful it was to finally have someone in her life again - someone whose laugh was so contageous.


	4. Mutter

**4.) Mutter**

* * *

"Usopp?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you cut my hair?"

"Er - sure, Sanji."

Usopp grabbed his sharpest scissors (he didn't have any real shears, but he made due well enough) and followed the blond cook up into the galley. Sanji laid down a large kitchen towel on the floor and sat on the long bench at the table.

Robin and Usopp became the unofficial hairdressers of the Straw Hat crew somewhere along the line. Robin was naturally good with her hands in that sense, and Usopp had always cut his own hair growing up. The different hair types of the crew members had proved to be of little challenge to him.

It was odd, though, because Sanji, naturally, usually had Robin cut his hair. In fact, Usopp was pretty sure he hadn't done it since before she joined the crew.

He didn't have to ask what to do - he knew the chef only wanted a trim.

Silence lingered between them for a couple minutes, Usopp concentrating on the task at hand and Sanji smoking with his eyes on the woodgrain of the table.

Then, out of nowhere, "Do you love her?"

"Excuse me?"

Sanji pulled away from Usopp and looked back up at him. "Nami."

"Nami?"

"Yes, do you love Nami?"

"Uh, well," Usopp swallowed, his throat suddenly thick. "Sure I do. Don't you?"

"Of course I do, shithead, but that's not what I meant. I meant… are you _in_ love with her?"

"I… What would make you ask that?"

Sanji looked forward again, stubbing out his cigarette and immediately lighting a new one. "I'm just asking, alright, so answer the question."

"… Well, um, no, I don't. I mean. I'm not. I'm not in love with her. I - we're just… very good friends. We're nakama, Sanji. Like you and me."

"Like you and me, huh," Sanji muttered after him, pulling his ankle up onto his knee under the table. He tapped his shoe against the Adamwood.

"Why're you asking me this?" Usopp questioned again, carefully remedying any split ends the chef had.

"Because…" Sanji exhaled a long plume of smoke and ashed his cigarette haphazardly, half-missing the ashtray. "Because sometimes I look at the two of you and I wonder, alright? So I just asked." Silence. He turned to look at the sniper once more. "You're not in love with her?"

What the hell, of course I am! I'm incapable of anything other than loving her! I would sail off the end of the world for that woman, and I would die for that woman, and I love her, I love her, I love her more than I've ever loved anything - I love her so much it scares me, but not like everything else scares me - it scares me that one day she might not be there and Lord, I love her.

"No," Usopp smiled, snorting a little. "I pity the man that falls in love with that woman."

Sanji grinned back at him and sucked on his cigarette. "She's fiery as she is beautiful."

The sniper chuckled a little, finishing up and brushing stray hairs off Sanji's shoulders. "She's terrifying."

She's my best friend and I love her.


	5. Breakfast

**5.) Breakfast**

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she blinked a large mass of curls into focus, and it was moving back and forth across the room. She could hear him dragging his heels.

Taking in her surroundings, the navigator immediately knew where she was not - and that was the Sunny. Where the hell was she?

Wait. Wait, alright… okay, she remembered the crew docking near a large town with, they discovered, a strip of bars going down the main street. Zoro hadn't even said anything, he'd just gone straight into the first drinking establishment in the long row, and was followed closely by Sanji, who had barked that he was a "lumbering, single-minded idiot" and that he "better not wander off from the crew and get lost like a dolt" like he always did.

And then… Luffy had followed closely behind, intent on sniffing out the adventure he was sure he smelled ahead of him. And that had led to Usopp yelling at him to come back, chasing him into the pub. That had left Nami looking at Robin and Franky, who had gone along with them. Chopper and Brook remained on the ship, drinking tea and discussing stories of Brook's days with the Rumbar Pirates.

"Shall we follow them?" Robin had asked, to which Franky had heartily agreed and walked over to hold the door open for her. She smiled and then Nami was alone.

Well. What else was she going to do?

The night had… escalated quickly, to say the least. Zoro wasn't ordering shots - he was ordering bottles. And Luffy was quick to follow suit, which led to a bit of property damage as the night wore on. Sanji had cursed Zoro for being so undignified, Robin and Franky shared beers, and Usopp had remained belly to the bar for a good portion of the night.

Nami smiled despite herself. She had missed this - this spontaneous explosion of chaos that could suddenly possess the crew. After winning several drinking games with the locals, she found herself walking back to the bar, nearly-empty drink in hand.

"… right, it's liquid courage, mate!" she heard the bartender saying to Usopp, who eagerly drank the very dark shot placed in front of him.

"Oi, brave warrior," Nami cut in, sliding in next to him.

"Yes, beautiful navigator queen?" Usopp had smiled, holding his head up with his hand, elbow planted on the bar. Nami laughed.

"We've only been here an hour, look at you."

"I know! Look at me!" And he stood up out of the stool, grabbing it wildly before it tipped over, and he assumed a power pose, flexing obnoxiously. "I have come quite far in our separation! But now! Look at us!"

Nami bit her knuckle to keep from laughing and grinned up at him. "You're ridiculous. You look ridiculous."

He sat down recklessly into the stool, his posture terrible. "I know." But he still smiled back at her. "Sorry."

The night had been filled with lots of shouting, laughing, and swearing. Sanji went through an entire pack and had managed to convince Nami to go with him to buy more somewhere in the town.

They wandered along the dark road, passing several bars and small shops that were starting to close down. The both of them must've been at least a bit drunk, because rather than their typical exchange of goddess and worshiper, they had walked together in silence, smiling to themselves.

They'd found a store that sold tobacco and papers, and that was good enough for Sanji, and he rolled a few of them and stored them in his pocket with practiced hands as they strolled back together.

"Tonight is a beautiful night," he'd said to her, looking up at the stars after lighting one of his new cigarettes.

"It is," she had agreed, and they'd gone back into the bar together.

Hours passed and everyone was quite drunk. Drunk to the point that Robin was the first to say she was getting a room rather than walking all the way back to the Sunny. And Franky had been quick to agree.

"Are you getting a room?" Sanji had asked the redhead, his cheeks a little rosy. Despite the ruckus of the night, he had remained looking well-kept in his tailored suit.

"I don't know," she had shrugged nonchalantly, sitting in a stool. The remainders - some locals and the rest of the Straw Hats - were collected there at the bar together.

Usopp seemed to get along well with the bartender, and Zoro and Luffy were looking like they were ready to pass out, and Sanji watched Nami out of the corner of his eye.

It wasn't long before Zoro and Luffy left, and Sanji looked at his other two crew members. He watched them laughing so hard together, drinking and drinking, ganging up together against the bartender in a heated, sloppy debate.

He left to follow Zoro and their moronic captain to the boat. In case they got lost.

Usopp and Nami actually stayed there drinking with the locals and the bartender until it was closing time. They'd stumbled out of the bar, shouting their goodbyes and linkings arms, half-falling into each other as they walked down the street to the first inn they could find.

The sniper, face ruddy and speech slurred, requested and paid for a single room - one with two beds. Nami had grinned with him as they managed, with her guidance, to navigate to their rented quarters.

Once there, Usopp had kicked off his shoes so hard that they had flown across the room, and he had shimmied out of his overalls until he was just in his skivvies, and thrown himself down onto the far bed.

Inebriated and fearless, just like the bartender had advertised, Nami had flipped off the lights and ran and jumped into bed with him, and they had laughed and smiled together, and Usopp wrapped his arms around her and hugged her so tight, remembering how much he'd missed having this explosive, chaotic woman in his life.

They'd fallen asleep like that. And now Usopp was yawning his way around the small kitchenette - fully clothed again, except the shoes - preparing what looked like a small breakfast.

Glancing around the room, Nami noticed immediately how expensive it looked.

"Where did you get food?" she asked, stretching and slinking deeper into the bed.

He didn't even jump when she spoke suddenly, and he turned and looked at her through squinted, groggy eyes. "This morning," he croaked, sounding so terrible and hungover. "You were still sleeping like a log and I was hungry, so… I barfed and went next door and got sausages. And a couple eggs."

"Wow. That was thoughtful of you."

"Well, I was going to just leave you here and go back to the Sunny, but it was too bright outside and I couldn't be out there for long."

She snorted and threw the covers back, climbing out of bed to inspect his cooking.

"I didn't know you could cook."

"I think everyone on the ship is capable of preparing a basic meal, other than you."

She smacked him on the back of the head and he dropped the fork he'd been using to turn the sausage in the frying pan. Clutching his head, he whined and fell to the floor, laying there in a heap.

She stepped over him and started pushing the sausage around the pan. "You're an idiot. I can cook just fine."

Together, with Usopp secretly correcting any adjustments she made to the temperature of the stove, and turning the meat when she forgot to, and scrambling the eggs when she wasn't paying attention to them, they cooked breakfast.

In a clearly hungover silence, Usopp ate slowly, chugging water every few bites. Nami was surprised over how much she enjoyed the meal. It wasn't Sanji's cooking, obviously, but it wasn't terrible.

When they were finished eating, he began to tidy the place up and put things away.

"You finish cleaning up. I'm going back to the ship."

He chuckled. "You bitch."

She flashed a wide grin at him and slipped out the door.


	6. Curt

**6.) Curt**

* * *

"Are you mad at me?"

"Nope," she replied curtly.

Usopp stood in the doorway, trying to gently untangle some of his curls that'd gotten knotted together during the windy morning.

"Then, what's wrong with you?"

Nami narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Every interaction I've had with you since yesterday, you've pretty much ignored me and indulged Sanji's adulation more-so than your usual tease routine," he said bluntly.

Gritting her teeth, she snapped, "Well, that's because you're an asshole! You're the one that ignored me first! I was actually being really nice! I told you yesterday that you looked good in the shirt you got last week and you didn't even turn around! So you can just deal with being ignored for a while." She huffed a bit.

Usopp snorted and shoved his hands in his giant pockets, smiling a bit at her. "Franky and I were doing a science experiment two nights ago and it exploded in my face and I couldn't hardly hear at all yesterday. I just didn't hear you, is all. You idiot."

Nami deflated a bit and almost looked guilty for a split second. "Well. It's not my fault you're too stupid for your own hobbies."

"You're right. I should've worn safety… things."

"Exactly."

"I apologize."

"You're forgiven, for now."

"Thank you, Nami. That's very kind of you." He grinned at her, and she let her expression slip a bit to match his just a little. "I'm glad you like the shirt."

"Ugh, shut up. Leave, already."

He laughed as he turned to retreat, closing the door behind him.


	7. Solitude

**7.) Solitude**

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Nami said as she poked her head up through the entryway into the crow's nest.

Usopp jumped and clutched at his chest, his head snapping around to where he knew she was hidden by the shadows, his concentration on the dark ocean waves immediately shattered.

"You know I'm coming every single time, and you still get scared," she teased, sitting next to him on the bench that wrapped around the room.

"I don't get scared every _single_ time!"

"Sure."

She wasn't sure how long they'd been doing this - this whole ritual of sharing the night watch together - but it had become a staple in their friendship. She knew half the reason Usopp craved company when he had watch duty was simply because he didn't particularly enjoy solitude in general.

Nami was fairly sure she was probably the only one on the ship that had an idea of Usopp's upbringing. And it had been odd, that one time the topic had come up.

They'd been chatting idly one evening, him with his nose in his sketchbook and her hovering over a map, eyes on their own projects, when the topic of tattoos had come up for whatever reason. That had led to the discussion of things that often came with negative stereotypes, like smoking cigarettes.

"My mother smoked cigarettes," Nami said with a smile at the fond memories that popped into her head. She'd always secretly liked Sanji's bad habit because of the association.

"Your family sure is interesting. You said your mom was a marine, right?"

"Yeah, and you should've seen her hair. The sides were shaved!"

"Wow. She sounds pretty tough."

Nami looked up at him and smirked. "You'd probably be afraid of her as soon as you saw her."

"Most likely," he agreed earnestly. "I wonder if your mom and my dad ever fought each other," he mused.

"That never occurred to me. But… it's very likely possible - she was stationed in East Blue, you know. If your dad was as talented as Luffy said he was, then there's certainly a chance they bumped into each other."

Usopp laughed at the irony of the idea - of their parents locked in battle, not knowing that their future children would become… as close as he and Nami had grown over the course of their adventures.

"What about your mother? Luffy and Zoro and I never met her back in that village of yours."

The sharpshooter finally looked up at Nami and smiled. He didn't say anything for a minute, and it wasn't until she finally glanced away from her work and over at him that she already knew his answer. He was opening his mouth, trying to speak, but he couldn't quite force the words.

"I'm sorry," Nami said quietly.

"It's okay," he responded quickly, lightening his expression. "She, uh, was very nice. And quiet. She probably wouldn't know how to even respond to your family, if your mother was as… spunky as you and your sister."

Nami had forgotten that Usopp had met and conversed extensively with her sister. Nojiko had mentioned it to her before she left for the Grand Line.

The conversation that night had shifted to easier, safer topics after that.

So, going on that tidbit of information and the fact that Usopp never spoke honestly of his childhood (he had plenty of stories to tell of his wondrous adventures as a kid, but he never mentioned or even hinted at the reality of his earlier life), Nami deduced that the sniper had spent many crucial years utterly alone in an empty house.

She wanted to say something. She wanted him to know she was lonely, too, at times. But as she sat beside him there in the crow's nest, watching the black rolling sea with him, she let silence win again.


	8. Map

**8.) Map**

* * *

"_Get the fuck off me!_"

Usopp's eyes snapped open. He'd fallen asleep in a lawn chair, sketchbook in his lap. He and Nami had been tasked with watching the ship at that particular town, which was a rare occurrence in and of itself - the navigator typically had shopping she claimed she needed to do.

Taking in his surroundings, everything bathed in the glow of the sunset, he sat up slowly and noted that nothing looked amiss. But he'd heard something. Something _had_ woken him up, right?

"_Fuck! Usopp!_"

His stomach plummeted. He could barely hear the panicked voice of his crew mate, but he trusted his ears.

Boots pounding on the Adamwood, taking the stairs three at a time, Usopp rushed to Nami's office, smacking into the door. He'd meant to shove it open with his shoulder, but the door was locked, which made his heart pound all the harder. He stomped at the door once, twice, and on the third frantic kick, he stumbled past the broken frame and into the room.

Nami looked over at him, tears streaming down her face, struggling wildly with a man the sniper had never seen before.

She screamed, "Usopp! My _maps!_"

His eyes snapped from her to the other intruder, who stood across the room, next to Nami's desk. In his hands were stacks of stiff paper and a lighter. Ripped and burnt pieces of parchment littered the floor beneath him.

Time warped and slowed as Nami watched Usopp.

There were moments when the sniper seemed to be pushed to a special point of lunacy. Times when he would do things like fight so far past his limits, throw himself at impossible enemies… or develop an alter personality, for example. Something in him shut off while, at the same time, something very different sparked to life. She categorized this as one of those moments.

She saw him take a deep breath, his chest expanding slowly. And then both she and her attacker stopped and stared as he took four great, bounding leaps towards the enemy that threatened her precious maps.

The sniper launched himself at the other man, feet first, colliding with him with so much force that he knocked the man off his feet. Landing hard, he scrambled and crawled over, crouched on top of the offender. Usopp clenched one hand around the man's throat and did not hesitate as he started punching him again, and again, and again in his face, flattening his nose and knocking out a few teeth.

And then he stood, the knuckles of his right hand red and dripping, and he kicked the other man over and over, driving the bottom of his boot into his chest.

Once Usopp's target had ceased making sounds completely, he stopped and looked over at Nami and her assailant, and a moment froze for a few seconds between the three of them.

Nami was the first to break the spell - she whipped around and struck her attacker square in the nose, and, wasting no time, she kicked as hard as she could, straight up between the man's legs.

He cried out in agony and Usopp rushed over, throwing his weight into a heavy kick to the stomach, and before their enemy could fall to the ground, the sharpshooter wrenched him back to his feet, muscling his weight as Nami grit her teeth together and punched him in his mouth, and his nose again, and gave him what would no doubt be an impressive shiner on his eye.

Usopp released his hold on the guy and let him fall to the ground as Nami shook the pain out of her hand. She started giving him a few extra kicks for good measure, and Usopp took a couple steps back and turned, going over to the first man he'd attacked. He stooped and collected Nami's maps, placing them on her desk before he paced to the center of the room and sat on the floor, still trying to catch his breath.

When Nami had finished delivering what she thought was an appropriate beating to someone who dared to threaten her or her maps, she looked back over at the sniper, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks," she said, eyeing the maps that he'd rescued for her.

"No problem," he panted, glancing up at her.

As they dragged the bodies off the ship and dumped them at the harbor near the town, Nami explained, "They barged in the room, and I didn't have the Clima-Tact, and the one just kind of held me there and threatened me while the other went over to my desk and started going through my maps - I was working on some and I had a big stack of them sitting out."

"Mhm," Usopp hummed as they walked back to the Sunny together.

"And I started screaming, you know, because who knows when I'll be able to go back to those places and redraw those maps, and… Well, with what they were saying, anyway, they were sick fucks."

Nami didn't normally cuss this often. Usopp let a few seconds of silence pass between them before he said, carefully, "Did he… They didn't-"

"It doesn't matter, nothing happened in the end. I'm fine."

As they climbed back onto the Sunny and cleaned the navigation room, they mutually decided to add this particular incident to the growing list of things they chose not to share with the rest of the crew.


	9. Prison

**9.) Prison**

* * *

The guard clenched his jaw and closed his eyes, trying to take slow, deep breaths as quietly as he could. He could feel the heat in his cheeks.

"He was overshadowed by his extremely successful older brother."

"And his younger brother was so much cuter - and good at sports. Typical forgotten middle child."

The prison guard's eyebrows furrowed together and he glared at the stone ground.

"So that's why he joined the marines, to separate himself from a family that never noticed him, always outshines him-"

"Exactly, and even in the military, he agonizes over not being recognized for any of his accomplishments."

"Even though he often excels at various tasks and assignments! Ugh, it's tragic."

Those little shit bastards were sitting there, locked in a steel cell, and they were making up a story of his life together.

The one with the giant ponytail afro and dark skin had started it all, telling of the guard's childhood where he was loved briefly for a time until his younger brother was born.

The girl with the long curly orange hair and provocative clothing had quickly joined in, pointing out that his parents often compared him negatively next to his brothers.

"As soon as he would raise in rank, his younger brother would be the star and savior at a major sporting event - he got a full baseball scholarship to a really nice school - or his older brother would win a big case. He became a lawyer and there's already talk of making him partner at his firm."

"What's his younger brother's name?"

"Eli. And the eldest brother is Samuel."

"Right. And his name is Sniffle."

The girl laughed. "Sniffle?"

"Sniffle. Look at him."

The guard did not look their way. Instead, he stood at his post, knuckles white against tight fists. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of reacting. He didn't even have a younger brother. He did happen to have an older brother, but his name wasn't Samuel.

And his own name wasn't fucking Sniffle.

"Right, okay, so Sniffle has been depressed lately."

"Why?"

"Well, other than living a completely lackluster life with zero real accomplishments, no friends, and no future outside of being an obedient military dog, there have been some… problems with the family at home."

"What happened?"

"Well… Sniffle's father has recently sent him a message confessing to be transgender, and he says he's going to get a sex change."

"God, that's a lot to take in for a son about his father."

"Yeah. On one hand, he's … actually really proud of his father. He sent Sniffle a photo of him in his woman-gear, and the thing was, he actually looked really happy. So, you know, Sniffle loves his dad and all, and he wants him to be happy, so he's proud. But on the other hand… his dad's a girl now, so there's that whole thing to deal with."

"His mother was, needless to say, a little upset over the whole thing. The two of them are getting a divorce. But honestly, this way they can live their lives the way they really want to… rather than living some lie for the sake of their children. There comes a time when you have to think of your own happiness, you know?"

"Exactly right. So now Sniffle's transgender father, Marshall, who is now going to go by Marsha-"

"MY DAD ISN'T A FUCKING WOMAN!" the guard finally screamed, interrupting the pair of pirates.

After a few moments of silence, with the both of them watching their guard carefully, Usopp quietly said, "… Sniffle experiences periods of denial, but Marsha knows he has to give his - er, sorry - her son time to come to terms with such a huge change-"

"Shut the _fuck up_, you stupid, worthless pirate scum!"

Nami couldn't contain a small snort and a tinier giggle. She mumbled, "Eli and Samuel struggle with their respective careers and goals."

"You think this is fucking funny? You think this is a joke?!"

Usopp tried not to chuckle as he said, "The family is falling apart, and it's really fucked up because-"

"You're locked in a prison cell! You're both being sent to Impel Down!"

"-Sniffle is actually starting to look like the most accomplished member of his family," Nami finished for him.

"You'll be tortured for your crimes as pirates! You'll never see the light of day again once you enter that place!"

"For the first time in his life," Usopp said just barely above a whisper, attempting so hard not to laugh.

"Finally free to succeed, to rise past the embarrassing rank of prison guard!" Nami grinned.

"Finally," Usopp managed to say, "for the first time, he's the shining star of his life's play."

The two of them held each other while they snorted and laughed and added to their story, introducing a love interest for Sniffle - a homosexual love interest that confused his very soul.

Just as they were getting to the struggle of Sniffle and his gay lover coming out to the rest of their military peers, the prison guard spoke evenly, "You two can laugh it up now as much as you want. But at the end of the day, your captain won't come for you, your crew won't bail you out of this mess, and your lives will be forfeit."

Nami stood up and walked to the bars of the cell, wrapping her fingers around them. "Don't you know who our captain is?"

Usopp said from his spot on the ground, leaning against the cold wall, "You keep talking about Impel Down and all, but our captain snuck in and went down all six levels and came back out, didn't he?"

"Right, and he consequently helped… how many prisoners escaped, again, Usopp?"

"I don't remember. Two-hundred-something."

The guard pursed his lips together. "He got lucky. You and your crew won't be so fortunate again. We're waiting for him this time. You two are just the bait. Your entire crew will be finished by nightfall."

The air was thick between the three of them. And then, the silence was broken by sounds of shouting and the clattering and firing of various weapons.

The guard tightened his grip on his rifle.

_"WHERE ARE MY NAKAMA!"_

They all heard the throaty scream rumble down the hallways. The voice was filled with a type of rage that was familiar to Usopp and Nami's ears.

"You sure about all that?" Usopp called to the guard from his spot in the back of the cell.

The marine suppressed a growl forming deep in his throat.

Nami smiled at him.


	10. Jealous

**10.) Jealous**

* * *

Nami glared at her drink and drummed her fingers on the table. She occasionally glanced around, smiling at jokes and stories, but she would always settle back to looking rather perturbed.

She watched Usopp and Sanji out of the corner of her eye. The chef had one arm over Usopp's shoulders, and the other was slinked around the small waist of a very pretty brunette.

Cigarette dancing between his lips as he spoke, Sanji was apparently doing quite a good job of impressing a number of ladies at this party.

It was the same old scenario. A threat. A battle. A victory. A party.

Normally, Nami quite enjoyed these things, but for some reason, she was being rubbed the wrong way. She turned her head just a bit to get a better view of her shmoozing nakama.

Usopp was embellishing Sanji's heroic tale, Nami could already tell. She didn't know why these women cared so much about such an obvious load of bullshit. Maybe it was the rising celebrity of the crew. They'd been in the newspapers enough times now, anyway.

She looked around at the rest of the townspeople that had gathered in the square with them that night. There were lots of good-looking gentlemen. There was nothing stopping her from getting up and talking to as many of them as she pleased.

But for some reason, she decided to stay where she was, feeling greatly annoyed.

"Aw, c'mon, Sis, don't be jealous. It isn't a pretty look on anyone."

Nami whipped her head around to see the giant cyborg seating himself next to her, a huge bottle of Cola in one hand and an even bigger ice-cream cone in the other. He looked down at her, trying to talk around the cold dessert in his mouth.

"Just let them have their fun. They love you the most."

Nami sputtered and took a long drink. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"You're over here super-looking like a kid that just got punished for something he didn't do, girly." Franky shrugged. "I used to be a real ladies' man on Water 7, you know. I was super popular with the girls. I know the look of a jealous woman."

"Oh shut up, you were the town pervert and everyone hated you."

"Not true! Girls love the bad boy, don't you think?" Franky chuckled and looked over at the laughing cook and the grinning sniper. "Well. Maybe not in your case."

"What!"

"He's not exactly the super-badass type, is he?"

"You're not making any sense, and you sound like an idiot."

"You like Longn-"

"That's ridiculous and insane."

"Whatever you say, Sis," Franky said as he tried to fit a scoop of ice-cream the size of a softball into his mouth all at once. After managing to swallow it, he coughed a bit and said, "Don't tell me you haven't at least thought of it."

"What?!"

"Oh come on, you're always hanging on each other and you get on pretty well. We all live on a ship together and we don't see anyone else for weeks at a time."

"Stop. Stop it, I'm not indulging this. You're just a pervert and not everyone is as disgusting with their daydreams as you are."

A bellowing laugh escaped Franky's chest and he had to put his Cola down. "So why are you over here getting pissed?"

"I'm not!"

Franky pushed his sunglasses up to his hairline - which was all fine with Nami. He looked like a fool with his sunglasses on at nighttime anyway.

"Why don't you just go over there and steal them back?"

"I don't need to - I'm perfectly fine - I don't care if they have fun! Let them be happy with their floozies! Good for them, they're so pathetic and hapless anyway, they might as well take this opportunity. I'm glad for them." Nami sniffed.

Franky snorted.

From the seat next to her, a soft voice spoke, "Nothing wrong with protecting your treasure."

Nami visibly jumped and nearly spilled her drink. Robin smiled over at her and Nami couldn't help but feel unnerved by the woman's weird ability to just appear and disappear out of nowhere.

"Exactly right, Nico Robin!"

The navigator frowned at her lap. "I want them to be happy, I don't want to interrupt."

"Ah, but they love you."

Phantom arms grew out of the back of their seats and gently pushed Nami to her feet. Two more appeared, each one holding a full drink. Robin must've brought over another round for them.

"You don't have to let those girls have all the fun, Nami." The archaeologist put up her signature soft smile, and Nami fumed because she knew that demon woman was smirking behind that mask.

Before the redhead could form a rebuttal, the two drinks that Robin's extra hands were holding out to her were suddenly thrust into Nami's care, and she nearly fumbled all three of them. But she recovered, as Robin knew she would, and that made her all the angrier.

"You- I'm not going to-"

"Oi, Longnose over there is the coward, not you - right?" Franky grinned, but Robin held a straight face, choosing to say nothing.

With a frustrated growl, Nami turned on her heel and marched away.

Franky scooted over a seat, sitting closer to Robin. "I almost feel a little guilty," he said in a low voice, and she grinned in candor now.

"I don't," she replied as the two of them watched Nami approach the group, squeezing in between Usopp and Sanji - those two were always so chummy, especially these days - and the navigator offered up the drinks with a shining smile.

"Yeah, you wouldn't. You super-love this shit."

Robin pulled her legs up and sat on her knees, leaning against the cyborg's gargantuan metal arm. She sipped the wine she'd brought with her, eyes on the navigator. Nami's elation looked genuine as the cook and the sniper were delighted at her arrival, taking the drinks graciously and slipping their drunken arms behind her back, sandwiching her between them.

"Nonsense. I simply enjoy people-watching."

Usopp pointed at Nami, gesticulating wildly and spilling a bit of his drink as he looked like he was telling a gripping tale involving the navigator.

"Yeah. Those three people in particular."

"Oh, come on. Be fair. The rest of the crew is often times just as interesting."

Sanji laughed as Usopp spoke, nodding in agreement to whatever he was saying, pressing a sloppy kiss against the redhead's temple. She hid her grin behind her drink, shoulders shaking with mirth along with her other two crew mates. Her cheeks were rosy and she drank in large, consecutive gulps.

"Yeah, but you see this super love triangle here."

Robin chose to take several drinks at that very moment.

"Well, with cook-bro, it's more like this… weird… love pentagon, isn't it?"

The smooth archaeologist nearly snorted wine out of her nose.

"Maybe just a square. It's hard to tell with him," Robin said quietly, recovering quickly.

Franky threw his head back and cackled, and Robin swirled her wine with a thoughtful smile. When the cyborg found his breath again, he regarded his group of nakama and asked, "What're they saying? I bet you're listening right now."

Sanji, Nami, and Usopp had all failed to notice the disembodied ear that'd grown on the wall next to them.

"Of course I'm not listening to them - eavesdropping is rude, Franky."

Franky scoffed and sipped his Cola noisily from a straw. The shipwright and the archaeologist watched fondly as Usopp must've said something particularly funny - or particularly true, at least - and the trio of pirates crumbled as a unit, their knees all going weak together in their outburst of laughter.


	11. Beginnings

**11.) Beginnings **

* * *

It happens as Nami's squeezing past Usopp in a tight hallway. His breath hitches a bit as their torsos press together, and she hesitates and glances up at him - he's a couple inches taller now, and broader, and tanner, and his hair is -

He looks down at her - her messy curls pulled back into a loose bun that's already falling apart in the humidity, and her eyelashes look longer now, and ever since they've been back together, after two whole years, there's something new about his most familiar friend and -

"Excuse me," she grins and moves along the hallway, speed-walking to her destination. Usopp watches her go and he tries to swallow, but there isn't enough saliva in his mouth for it anymore.


	12. Middles

**12.) Middles**

* * *

Sanji nearly dropped his knife when the door to the galley burst open very suddenly that evening. He was just preparing some ingredients before he went to bed to create less work for himself in the morning - nobody ever came into his domain that late at night unless it was Luffy, and that little bastard would've tried to be much sneakier.

But it was Zoro standing there, closing the door quickly behind him and turning to face Sanji, his face serious. He had that weird intense aura about him, like everything else around him was totally muted.

Sanji subconsciously gripped his knife tighter.

"Um. What do you want?"

Zoro took a few slow steps towards Sanji, ignoring how the cook tensed just slightly. It was barely noticeable, but to Zoro, it was obvious.

"Does it bother you?"

"… Does what bother me," Sanji said flatly, looking at Zoro like he was an idiot.

"Do those two bother you," Zoro added, crossing his arms. Sanji looked like he wanted to slap the swordsman.

"Do those… who bothers me? What the fuck are you trying to say, you moron-"

"Nami and Usopp - do they bother you."

Sanji narrowed his eye and put down his knife, hands going to his pockets. Zoro could see the muscles in Sanji's forearms - visible with his sleeves rolled up - flex a little.

"I'm afraid I still don't quite understand, Marimo."

"The way they are. The way they've always been. Does it bother you?"

"They're friends, what about that is supposed to bother me?"

"But what if-"

"Then why would I care? I…"

Zoro glared at Sanji, and the chef could only match the swordsman's menacing expression. After spending so much time in the New World, Zoro had come to look even meaner by default. It had never phased Sanji.

"Alright." Zoro said finally, and abruptly turned on his heel and left.

Restraining the urge to throw his knife into the door, Sanji lit a cigarette and whispered to himself, "Stupid shitty fucking idiot. Of course it bothers me." Inhaling deeply, he looked back at the vegetables he'd been slicing. "It fucking kills me."

And, standing there alone again in the kitchen, he hated himself.

On the other side of the door, up against the railing of the uppermost deck, Zoro watched Nami and Usopp sitting together at the other side of the ship, in the front near the huge lion masthead. He'd watched them there from the crow's nest earlier during his evening workout regime.

He hadn't known why he couldn't stop staring at them while he lifted his gargantuan weights - he wasn't a damn spy.

But the way those two were… God, that thieving devil woman and that whining dumbass sniper, they were just… they'd always been like two peas in a crappy pod. And he loved them, as he had come to love the entire crew over all this time. But he could never be like them. He could never sit with someone at the edge of the deck, legs hanging off the sides, laughing and leaning on each other and smiling so openly and…

He knew it killed the cook. And he hated himself.


	13. Ends

**13.) Ends**

* * *

Unbeknownst to them all, the entire crew shared the same very secret, very deep fear that after they found the One Piece, they would disband. They couldn't say exactly why they thought that, but everyone had their own private anxious version of how it would play out, one way or another.

So when it actually happened - them finally making it to Raftel and completing their grand quest and, subsequently, accomplishing many of their dreams - after all that finally happened, there was almost a sort of combined hesitation amongst all of them. But it never came. The Straw Hat Crew stayed together, with the Pirate King as their worthy captain.

The times changed, the world itself changed, but with Luffy, there was always adventure. Eight years had passed since they set out to Fishman Island together. Their eternally childish captain was twenty-seven now.

It was hard to believe they stayed together as long as they had. But the glue that kept them together was strong and hard to break away from. Nobody was willing to leave their family.

So the unit strengthened and grew and was challenged time and time again. But over the years, it had almost become a game. Nakama came and went, but those nine remained a constant on the Thousand Sunny.

The day that finally changed the entire equation was beautiful and warm and cloudless.

Luffy had an immense territory in the New World. He'd sailed around the entire planet and made it back there, but it was a different place from when he'd left it. He had set about defending what was rightfully his as the Pirate King - his main priorities were defending the islands he'd claimed as being protected by his name. This was one of those islands.

Sanji, his hair a bit longer and in a small ponytail now, grinned around a cigarette as he ran next to Zoro. The crew was charging forward, with Luffy up ahead attacking the captain of the enemy pirates.

So many new faces in the New World. So many new threats and powers. A new generation entirely.

And with the new generation came new tactics.

It always played out with Luffy simply knowing who the strongest opponent was and going after him. So it had taken the captain by surprise when the man who was obviously meant to be his opponent flashed around him and lashed out against a different crew member.

Sanji skidded to a halt as he came up over the small hill, his eyes falling on two of his dearest friends. Usopp was quickly sinking to his knees, looking alarmed, his eyes searching wildly, and they fell on Nami, who was there immediately. He gripped her wrists as he hunched further, and Sanji could see him yelling at her over the sound of battle, his words hurried, and she was lowering him to the ground, staying with him as he fell, still trying to clutch at her arms.

There was blood everywhere, absolutely all over him, and Sanji had no idea how he'd been fine a second ago, and now there were puncture wounds covering him, and Nami, with her back to Sanji, was nodding, and then shaking her head, and nodding again, and Usopp was letting go of her now and going limp and Sanji stood where he was, unmoving.

Luffy's head had whipped around as the attack flew past him. He stared, his wide eyes disbelieving, until he heard the cold laughter of his foe from behind him. He turned then, transforming into something boiling and red and terrifying, and he erupted. Screaming so hard it tore at his throat, Luffy was a blur of black arms and legs, and he unleashed a punishment on his opponent that was absolutey devoid of mercy.

The small army of enemy subordinates fell quiet and watched as Luffy screamed and punched and kicked until his black limbs were highlighted with red.

And when he was finished, he turned again and saw Nami, sitting there on her knees, her hands squeezing around the fabric of Usopp's shirt, her neck craned back, and her screams finally reached his ears.

Chopper ran up to the pair, dropping his medicine bag on the ground next to them and pressing his hooves against Usopp's wrists, and then his neck, and he was crying as hard as Luffy's navigator.

Robin jumped down from her seat on the General Franky, and Franky himself nearly dismantled the door of the mecha's central chamber as he threw it open and leapt out, landing next to the archaeologist. His giant chest was heaving, and Robin put a hand on him to steady herself. His eyes fell down to her, and he could see her looking from her own hands to Usopp and Nami and Chopper, and back to her hands again, and he knew she was trying to figure out if there wasn't something she could've done. And seeing her tears, Franky sat down and grabbed her and they cried together.

Luffy walked up to Chopper and Nami, and they both looked up as they heard the Pirate King's shaking voice.

"Is he dead? He's not dead. Is he dead, Chopper? Can you fix him? Chopper?"

The reindeer looked up at his captain, and he tried to speak through choking sobs. "Tw-tw-twelv.. Twelve… Agh, Twelve for-forty… six, Usopp has…"

And Nami was shaking her head again, her cheeks so wet.

"Nami," Luffy said, and he fell on his knees next to the crumbling woman, and as he threw his arms around her, he cried, "I'm so sorry!"

She held onto him so tightly, and they screamed their fallen comrade's name and cried together, and Luffy, through his heaving and broken sobbing, repeated over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't protect him, I'm so sorry, God!"

She only continued to scream, she had no words, and Chopper was with them, and they held the furry little doctor so close between their shaking bodies.

Brook approached them and stood silently by Usopp, his mouth hanging open, and he wished, he wished that he couldn't see this. He shouldn't be able to see this. He wished his sight had been lost along with his eyes.

Zoro looked over at Sanji, standing next to him, and the cook's shoulders were sagging as he stared at the scene, tears streaming steadily down his cheeks and dripping from his jaw as he took long, slow breaths, eyes so wide. And he finally broke - shattered - and sat on the ground, elbows on his knees as he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes and cried and cursed and coughed.

The swordsman drew his third weapon and placed it in his mouth. As he walked towards the enemy army, past Nami and Chopper and Luffy and Brook and Usopp, the navigator looked up at him, and Luffy's eyes followed hers, and with a voice hoarse from screaming and crying, she said, "Kill them, Zoro."

Zoro looked from her to Luffy, whose eyes were haunting and empty.

"I will."

The entire group of enemy pirates turned to run as Zoro went after them all. Chopper looked up and saw the lone swordsman taking on the entire army and growled. He stood, running a few steps away from his captain before turning into a giant monster, and his howling battle cry was filled with rage and fury. He joined Zoro in the complete destruction of the people who dared to harm one of their nakama.

That night, they held a proper burial at sea in the middle of the ocean. Nine days later, the Straw Hats finally disbanded.


	14. Parents

**14.) Parents**

* * *

"Why do you always wear that old thing around your left arm?"

Usopp looked up from his project at Nami, and for a couple seconds, he almost seemed confused.

"You mean my armband, right?" He looked down at his arm and the shoddy blue and white fabric that adorned it, signs of age clearly evident.

"Obviously."

Usopp's official Usopp Factory Branch Office was located right next to Nami's mikans, and she'd been watching him tinker around while she watered them. The thought had suddenly struck her. She never saw him without it, and he wore it even over bandages. It was actually one of the first things that made her recognize him after two years apart.

"Oh. Um." He sat back and squinted up at the bright sky. "My mother gave it to me and told me to always wear it there. I actually kinda forgot - it's just been so long that I don't even think about it."

"I see."

Nami sat down next to him and let him tell her all about the ridiculous invention he was working on.

Eighteen years before, a tiny Usopp blinked his huge eyes and even bigger eyelashes up at his parents. He cooed at them as they spoke, and he waved his little sausage arms at them. His mother was holding something very blue and white and interesting.

"-and I'll have him wear this on his left arm - that way, you'll be able to recognize him immediately. Although you should be able to already," Bachina grinned at her husband. "He looks just like you."

"Ah, but he's got your nose, the most beautiful nose in all the seas and the lands, and there's none better! I'll recognize that nose in an instant."

"Oh, stop, Yasopp. All that aside, you'll be able to see these blue and white stripes from a mile away."

"Ten miles, probably."

"With your eyes, maybe."

"Hah! Well, I'll make it obvious it's me - although I expect I'll be so famous by the time he grows up, he'll know my face already from seeing it in the papers so many times!"

Bachina slapped his chest so lightly, and he smiled at her and pulled on a headband that said YASOPP in great big letters. "One way or another, he'll know it's me," the pirate laughed, and his son laughed with him in bubbly baby giggles. "Assuming we ever do run into each other," he added. "You're pretty hell-bent on the idea that Usopp's going to take off to sea one day, too."

"He's your son. Of course he will!"


	15. Children

**15.) Children**

* * *

The Thousand Sunny was no place for children. Or so everyone thought.

But three and a half years after the crew had reunited and set back out on their adventures, Franky made the very loud and tearful announcement that he was going to have a baby, which confused Chopper and Luffy greatly, and there was a lot of shouting and arguing until Nico Robin calmly explained that she would be the one actually birthing the thing.

And the thing turned out to be a spunky little girl with blue hair and a narrow nose, covered in bandaids and grease stains most of the time. She was smart as hell - too smart, really - and she shared her father's burning passion for engineering.

When she was a baby, Franky and Robin both stayed on the Sunny at all times with her, guarding their most precious treasure against the dangers of the ocean. But by the time she was three, she could shoot a rocket with a little help from her father, and when she was four, she started coming up with ideas for new additions to Franky's arsenal, and by the time she was five, he had to keep a close eye on her because she was figuring out how to build weapons of her own.

Her name was Olvia.

She danced to Brook's songs and rode around on Chopper's back and, to the entire crew's extreme dismay, became an accomplice in Luffy's food thievery. She insisted Zoro teach her to fight with swords, which he finally started doing and grudgingly enjoyed her natural aptitude for it. Sanji treated her like a tiny princess - he even did his very best not to smoke around her. She always chastised him for it, and he was constantly having to win her back over with secret midnight snacks.

She wanted to learn everything. And this had pleased Robin. She'd happily obliged on the day Olvia came to her and asked about the poneglyphs. Robin had never spoken of them in front of her, had never alluded to anything, but she had always told herself that once Olvia figured it out, and showed an interest in learning about it, she would teach her. So, starting at age five, Olvia began learning to read the poneglyphs, just as Robin had.

Because knowledge was the greatest power Robin knew of, and she wanted her daughter to be strong.

On the day Usopp presented her with her first slingshot - they had met in secret in his factory (which had become quite impressive over the years) later in the evening, when her father wasn't there - he had told her, his nose inches from hers as he squatted in front of her, in a very low and serious voice, "If you shoot me or the girls with this thing, I will have Nami steal it back from you - and you know you can't hide it from her! And I won't make you another until you're twenty."

"Pff, I'll be able to make my own by then," she countered.

"Not with the same perfect precision I've mastered over a lifetime of making these things, you can't. And I won't give you any special ammo. Ever."

Olvia frowned and looked over at Nami, who stood in the corner, watching with her arms crossed over her chest. She'd been against this, but Usopp had pointed out that they were both the same age as Olvia when they'd started learning to fight, and also Olvia had been bugging him about it for, like, a year now, and she was really cute, so.

"Just don't do anything stupid with it, that's all we really want," Nami said to her, shrugging. "You're a pirate, and you're too little to fight up close to anyone, but you could do some damage from a distance."

Usopp and Olvia grinned at her, and the sniper gave the little girl her first slingshot quite ceremoniously. He'd made it especially for her - small and light, but easy to aim and it packed a punch.

As he handed her a small bag of ammo he'd made for her, he said, "I can't be responsible for what happens if you shoot anyone else. Just… You know, just shoot at birds or something."

"I'm not gonna shoot birds! What if I kill them!" she yelled, and Usopp rolled his eyes.

"Alright, whatever, I'll make you some targets. And, uh," he glanced at Nami, "I put a few extra-special shots in there for you, but use them wisely because I'm not making you anymore until you prove you're worthy of more."

But as soon as Usopp had finished speaking, Olvia had already loaded a smoke star into the pouch of the slingshot, and she shot it without really bothering to look where she was aiming. Smoke filled the room, and Nami grumbled at Usopp, "You're such an idiot."

A week later, Usopp and Olvia sat on the upper-most deck in the shade of Nami's mikans, and they practiced hitting targets he'd set up against the back railing together. Franky walked up and laughed.

"Oi, Olvia! Did Usopp decide you're old enough to become a super-sniper?"

"Yeah! Check it out!" she showed her giant cyborg father her new gift with pride.

"Well, let's see what you can do!" he said, and he chugged the rest of the cola he was holding and sat the bottle down on the railing. "See if you can shoot it off, girly."

She stood and took aim carefully, and Usopp watched and said nothing - he didn't want to interrupt her concentration. Olvia released and missed her target entirely.

"Shut up! Don't say anything! Everyone shut up!"

Franky and Usopp smiled at her, having said nothing in the first place. They both watched as she loaded another round and took aim once more. Biting her tongue, she squinted her eyes and fired again. This time, the bottle exploded.

Both Usopp and Franky cheered and clapped and Olvia made a power pose, just as she was taught to, and as Nami watched, she thought that they all made a very excellent family indeed.


	16. Solid

**16.) Solid**

* * *

It really fucked with Usopp a lot, when it was Sanji touching him. Sanji grabbing him, holding onto him, leaning on him and trudging through the snow with him.

Except it wasn't Sanji. It was Nami. But.

He didn't say anything about it - well, he tried not to, but he kept slipping up and calling her Sanji. And even then, he tried to backpedal. He'd grown accustomed to Nami's body, in a way - soft, smooth, smelling of citrus. But now, alone with her on Punk Hazard, he was smothered with the smell of cigarettes and arms and a chest that felt considerably more solid.

Someone much stronger and taller and heavier was hanging on him now, and it made Usopp's stomach feel weird and empty.

Sanji himself was no stranger to physical contact with Usopp. The chef would often do things like throw his arm around the sniper's shoulders, rub his head and ruin his hair, and push him around. But now, Sanji - er, wait, no, it was Nami - was touching him in a way that, Usopp felt, was decidedly more intimate than the cook's norm.

Usopp almost felt guilty. Why the _hell_ did he feel guilty?


	17. Limp

**17.) Limp**

* * *

Luffy trusted his crew. He believed in them the same way he believed in himself.

But he had failed before. He'd lost before. Sabo had died. Ace had died right in front of him. Had he done something - anything - differently, maybe he could've saved Ace. Maybe Sabo's life didn't have to end as early as it did.

Monkey D. Luffy eventually had to accept that there were some things he couldn't control. There were some things that, no matter his determination, he couldn't protect. He could only do… what he could.

So it scared the hell out of him, when he saw his nakama carrying each other back from their respective fights. When he regained full consciousness, and he saw his crew bleeding and tired, it made him physically nauseous. Seeing his friends sick and suffering, injured and limping and dragging themselves along - it made his blood fucking boil.

He didn't know how to say this. He had no idea how to even put words to these emotions. Sometimes, he could only look at Zoro and hope the swordsman understood what he was trying to communicate. And when Zoro saw his face, that was all he really needed. Nobody else really got it.

It never occurred to Luffy that this was because Zoro didn't know how to voice these kinds of things either.

"The New World is something else," the swordsman said to him one evening, hand resting on the hilt of one of his swords. Luffy could never remember which one was which, even after all this time.

"It is. But this crew won't have any problems. We haven't so far!" Luffy grinned from beneath his hat. "We're all so much stronger now."

"We are stronger, yeah," Zoro agreed, sitting with the captain near the ship's wheel. After a moment, he said slowly, "But… is that enough?"

"Of course it is," Luffy answered immediately, eyes back on the ocean. He smiled. "We'll all find One Piece together."

Zoro said nothing, staring down at his boots. Luffy rubbed his nose and looked back over at the other man.

"You're not worried, are you?"

The swordsman blinked a few times and met the captain's eyes. "What do you want me to say?"

Luffy and Zoro regarded each other, the sound of the wind whipping by them in the late sunset drowning out the rhythmic baseline of the sea lapping against the ship.

"We'll find One Piece together, Zoro. All of us."

"There's a chance, though, that-"

"Those guys can all take care of themselves! And I'll protect them. We both will."

Zoro clenched his jaw. "We can't be everywhere at once. And neither can they. Most of them, yes, they can manage, but then there's-"

"They can handle themselves! They watch over each other. Haven't you ever seen them together?"

Zoro furrowed his eyebrows and stood up, pacing back and forth slowly in front of Luffy. "Are you sure?"

"_Yes!_" Luffy shouted, his fists clenched.

The swordsman frowned and glared at the wheel of the ship, running his hand over the fine, glossy wood. He didn't know how to do this. He didn't know how to say he was worried, that he wanted his friends to live, that he wouldn't be able to handle seeing someone so close to him, someone he's come to accept as true family, fall before him. He didn't know how he would react to something like that.

He didn't know how Luffy could be so perceptive and so blind at the same time.

"All of them have saved my life. Our lives. They watch over each other. Nami and Usopp… they'll be okay. They're both strong."

"But are they strong enough!" Zoro nearly yelled, turning to face the captain again. He hated this.

"Their fates are up for them to decide! You and I don't decide that for them!" Luffy grit his teeth together for a second. And then, suddenly, with a deep breath, he calmed and looked very tired. He was, for a brief moment, much older than the little scrappy boy he usually was. It made Zoro's chest hurt a bit. "They're my nakama. This is where they belong."

"They'll stay with you for as long as you keep them here."

"I can't have anyone else. It has to be them. All of them."

"Even if it costs them their lives?"

Zoro couldn't see Luffy's face under the shadow of his hat.


	18. Sheepish

**18.) Sheepish**

* * *

"Just stop."

Usopp paused mid-sentence and looked over at her, his mouth still open, words still waiting to spill out and continue the tale of his past heroics as a child.

"You don't have to be like that."

"What?"

"You know, all these stories and… bullshitting. It's just me right now. So you can be just you."

Usopp glanced around the room they occupied on the Going Merry, suddenly remembering that Chopper had left, and Luffy had wandered off too, and Zoro and Sanji had gone their own bickering ways and… it was just him and Nami there now. He started laughing.

She rolled her eyes and grinned at him. "You don't have to impress me, of all people." In her fingers, she twirled one component of her new weapon - the Clima Tact - that she'd recently used to defeat that awful, horrible needle-woman in Alabasta.

"Sorry," he smiled a bit sheepishly and slouched a little more in his seat, eyes on his lap. "I forgot."


	19. Bold

**19.) Bold**

* * *

Usopp was walking along near the girls' room on the Thousand Sunny when he saw Sanji leaving it, looking positively devastated. The sniper stopped and stared at the chef, who looked up at him, a silver tray with a den-den mushi in hand. Usopp's eyes fell to it.

"Nami-san just received a call, so I brought it to her because a princess shouldn't have to get up to take a call, you know, and she must've gotten some bad news, I don't know," Sanji half-rambled, fishing in his pocket for a cigarette with his free hand, biting one out of his pack.

"Did someone die?"

Sani frowned and lit his cigarette. "I think so. She wouldn't say anything about it, she just got very upset. And I tried to talk to her, you know, to console her, to try to help her, but she said she wanted to be alone, so here I am," he said, resigned.

Usopp nodded and walked past Sanji, his steps bold and unhesitating, and Sanji was about to stop him and remind him that Nami-swan wanted to be alone, but the words died on his lips. The chef watched the sniper's back as he slipped in her room and shut the door behind him.

Nami had looked up at the sound of her door being opened, but she let out the breath she'd quickly inhaled and let her shoulders sag again when she saw it was him. She listened to his heels drag along the floor as he went over to her and sat on the edge of the bed with her. He didn't say anything.

"I just got this call that Genzo died. He's dead." Her voice was cracking and she was struggling to say the words.

He shifted so that his upper body was facing her and she fell against his chest, sobbing hard and getting his skin wet, and he rested his chin on her head with his arms folded over her shoulders, and her voice was muffled against him when she spoke.

"He got sick and our doctors are only so skilled there, of course, it's a small town," she said, and he nodded his head against her a little, "So that was Nojiko, and she told me and we couldn't even talk about it - he was like a father to us, you know that."

She pulled away from him, rubbing her face with her hands and wiping them off on his overalls, and he smiled a little despite himself. She did too, just a tiny bit, before it faded again and she whispered, "I just would've liked to have seen him again. I had to be so distanced from him for so long."

Nami dissolved into tears again, falling back against the mattress and covering her face, crying into her palms, and Usopp laid next to her and pulled her onto his chest once more, and she stayed there with him, going from sobbing to calm to hysterical again for an untold amount of time. She talked about what Genzo had been like when she was very little, and what a good man he was, and Usopp listened to her stories.

Outside the room, Sanji sat and chain smoked on the stairs, elbows heavy on top of his knees. And as Zoro walked down the stairs slowly, headed out to the lawn, he stopped next to the chef and looked down at him. Sanji bristled and didn't bother to look up.


	20. Shiver

**20.) Shiver**

* * *

"Oi, dumbass!"

"Zoro! Usopp!"

Nami and Sanji trudged through the jungle, sweating and annoyed. They'd only stopped at the small island to scout for edibles - they should've been on their way an hour ago. Nami huffed and pulled her huge mess of curls into a ponytail, wiping her bangs out of her face.

"I didn't think sending Zoro would be a problem since he's got Usopp with him. How could they get lost on this little island? And now it's dark!"

"I know, Nami-san, and really, we should've known by now that we can't ever underestimate how very deeply stupid Zoro can be." Sanji grumbled more to himself, "We've been back together for over a year now and still, I am regularly impressed."

Nami agreed, climbing over a mossy log, picking her way along next to Sanji, whose cigarette lit up the irritated expression on his face. His blonde hair was sticking to his cheeks in the humidity. The both of them continued to call out for their crew mates, jumping and yelping together when they thought they saw a horribly large spider in the moonlight.

"I hate this. I'm going to kill both of them when we find them," Nami promised, brushing her shoulders off, paranoid now about spiderwebs.

"Be my guest," Sanji added, flicking his cigarette into the darkness, mumbling, "Shitty jungle."

Nami cupped her hands around her mouth, taking a deep breath before yelling once again, "Zoro! Usop- oh!"

A very worn-looking Zoro and a panicked Usopp stumbled through the bushes in front of them, surprising both the chef and the navigator.

"Usopp! Marimo!" Sanji trounced over, jabbing a finger at Usopp, "You! Shitty longnose! How could you let this moss-brain get lost! And you! Dumbshit! How'd you manage to - oh, shit, what's wrong with him?"

It was now apparent to Sanji that Usopp was struggling to keep Zoro upright, and the swordsman's usual glare was glassed over and hazy.

"There are natives on this island, and they use this poison-"

"Zoro's been poisoned?" Nami whispered loudly, looking around in the dark jungle, now very wary of something much more dangerous than spiders.

"Yes, but it's alright, he'll be fine as long as we get him back to the Sunny," Usopp explained, half-dragging the larger man over to a spot where he could set him down. Zoro sat hunched over on a patch of dead leaves, and Usopp stretched his arms out. "I've actually been poisoned by the same thing - back on the Bowin islands. It's from a plant commonly found in this type of climate."

"Who poisoned him?" Sanji asked, his voice steady and quiet. He was squinting in the direction Usopp and Zoro had come from.

"I already told you, some people who clearly live here, and we are trespassing in their home probably, and it would probably be good if we all just hurried back to the Sunny because Zoro's been _poisoned_ and all," Usopp hissed, walking up next to Sanji.

"Usopp," Sanji said suddenly, turning to face him, a hand on his shoulder. "We can't just let some shitty bastards poison our nakama and get away with it. What if it'd been poor, sweet Nami-san?"

"Yeah, well it wasn't, it was Zoro and we should get him back to the shi-"

"We need to teach these fucking assholes a lesson," Sanji growled, cutting him off.

"We?"

"Yes, you and me."

"Really, there's no need - the important thing is that Zoro needs to get to the Sunny, and also, Sanji, these people fight with poison, which is the actual issue here, and if we just get him to the Sunny, Chopper has the antidote, thanks to me, of course, and-"

"Nami-san!" Sanji walked over to the navigator, who stood by Zoro. "Can you lead the marimo back to the ship?"

"Of course, Sanji-kun," Nami smiled, patting the swordsman on the shoulder.

"Moss-head!" Sanji squatted in front of him, "Can you pull yourself together enough to walk back to the ship?"

Zoro grunted.

"Alright! It's settled- Usopp, you and I are going to show these pricks what happens when you poison one of our friends." Sanji grinned, and the look on his face was quite troubling to Usopp.

"You're right, we should show them, but, Sanji, it would probably be best if I went with Nami and Zoro, because what if he can't-"

"We can't let Nami-san come into harm's way! It's much better that you're at risk rather than her, and it's up to us to keep them far away from her. And that meathead can handle himself." Sanji looked over his shoulder and barked, "Oi, marimo!"

Zoro looked up, his eye half-lidded.

"Are you alright?"

"I will be."

"Good."

"Oi, cook."

"Hm?"

Zoro narrowed his eye at the chef. "Be careful. They… they can silence themselves."

"So?"

"I mean your haki won't work so well. So be careful."

"Fair enough." Sanji sniffed and looked back at Usopp. "You lead the way. We're going to have to work together if we're gonna take down whatever bastards managed to get one in on him."

"But, okay, but what if we get poisoned? Who's going to save us?"

"We just won't get poisoned. Simple." Sanji grinned and pushed Usopp through the bushes, and the both of them made their way as quietly as they could back the way Usopp had come from, leaving Zoro and Nami behind. In a hushed voice, Sanji asked, "How'd you get away before?"

"Smoke star. It's so dark out here under all these trees, we were able to escape that way. But they're all wearing dark clothes, it's hard to pick them out in the first place. They're almost invisible. That's how they got Zoro."

"I see," Sanji said, hands in his pockets.

The two of them continued on in silence for another ten minutes. Just as Usopp was starting to relax a bit and think maybe they all went back to their homes for a late dinner, an arrow whizzed by his cheek, and he yelled in surprise.

Sanji yanked Usopp backwards, and the sniper stumbled a little before regaining his footing, Black Kabuto already in hand. The chef leapt forward into the dark, lashing out at the shadow in front of him, but he missed entirely. Spinning quickly, Sanji kicked again, but his foot only connected with cloth - the enemy had slipped just past him.

"Usopp! What the hell, I can't see these fuckers at all!"

"I told you about this problem in detail, why don't you ever listen to me!"

About a mile and a half away, Nami and Zoro mucked their way through the foliage, and the navigator did her best to hold large branches out of the swordsman's way. Other than that, she couldn't be of much help, aside from keeping him from walking off in the completely wrong direction, which he'd already tried to do twice.

"So… Are you alright? I mean, I know you're poisoned, but you're walking well enough and…"

Zoro rubbed his face and nodded, "It's fine. I'm just tired."

"Tired?"

"Yeah, apparently it makes you real tired and you're not supposed to fall asleep. Because then you don't wake up or something."

Nami frowned. "Is that what Usopp told you?"

"Yeah. He said he recognized the smell immediately. Which isn't surprising with that nose of his. And he said… something about getting tired and, uh… woozy, I guess," Zoro told her, eye locked on the path they were making.

"You sleep enough as it is, this could be a problem. But we're almost back to the ship. I think you're going to make it. Sanji seemed to think you would, anyway," Nami smiled over at him, doing her best not to trip over all the exposed roots in their way. Why had she worn these shoes in the first place?

"I feel like an idiot."

The quietness in Zoro's voice surprised Nami a bit. Not that Zoro was a very loud sort of person, but when he got quiet like that, he was usually a bit scary, and now he just seemed… sad. She shivered, despite the heat.

"There's no reason to, Zoro. It's pitch black out here. And anyway, that's what your nakama are for."

He shook his head. "I'm never going to hear the end of it," he said, obviously a bit unsteady on his feet. Nami put her hand on his arm to steady him a little. "That asshole's got to be laughing at me right now."

"Oh, come on, Zoro. He looked like he was going to kill someone. He was worried about you."

The sound of Zoro's sudden laughter made Nami jump a little, and she glanced over at him again. He grinned, and Nami realized she hadn't heard him laugh in some time.

"Worried, huh?" he continued to smile until he stumbled over a rock, barely catching himself just before he planted his face in the ground.

Back at the scene of the battle, Sanji and Usopp were doing some impressive acrobatics in their attempts to dodge poisoned arrows and daggers that kept flying their way, relying mostly on luck to keep from being hit at this point.

"Do something, Usopp! You've fought these guys before!" Sanji shouted, a whirl of leather shoes and tailored slacks.

"Yeah, once, like twenty minutes ago! And I _am_ doing something!" Usopp yelled back, and right next to Sanji, a dark form exploded in flame and screeched into the night.

Sanji locked on and kicked the howling, flaming native in the neck, watching with satisfaction as he fell to the ground and stayed there.

"Damn right, Usopp, light these bastards up!"

All around Sanji, dark shadows came to life, bathed in fire. Usopp moved around, keeping from staying in one spot for too long, and one by one, Sanji leapt and soared and destroyed their enemies, now that he could see them. He cursed at them, merciless, announcing to them that this was their punishment for hurting his nakama.

As Usopp was reaching in his bag for more ammunition, he stopped when he saw Sanji pause and yank on an arrow that'd become embedded in his arm.

"Son of a bitch," Sanji growled, throwing the arrow to the ground. He fell back, closer to the sniper now.

"Shit, Sanji! You were supposed to _not_ get poisoned, remember! That was the plan! We planned this!"

"Shut up, I know. How long until this shit starts taking effect?"

"I don't know, maybe a minute."

"Okay, we have a minute, then. Start firing," Sanji said through grit teeth, two more arrows flying past the both of them. "I don't know how you can see them like this, but get them all." The cook stood up straight again, pushing his sleeves up past his elbows. "Every single one."

"Roger that," Usopp said, running in the opposite direction. Amongst all the plants before them, cloaked figures burst into flames, and Sanji threw himself at them with renewed vigor.

Back at the Thousand Sunny, Chopper's eyebrows shot up in surprise when he saw Nami and Zoro break through the tree line, clearly visible in the bright moonlight. The doctor shouted to Franky, and the two of them ran to meet their crew mates on the beach. The cyborg helped Zoro onto the ship, and the swordsman could barely keep his eye open.

"Usopp said Zoro's poisoned by the same thing he was poisoned with on the Bowin Islands," Nami informed Chopper, who lit up immediately.

"Oh! We have the antidote to that! But it's important that Zoro doesn't fall asleep! Quickly, bring him into my office!"

Once they were inside, Luffy stood in the doorway of Chopper's med bay, grinning at his first mate. "What happened?"

"Nothing," Zoro grumbled, scowling.

"He was poisoned, but he'll be alright now," the doctor told Luffy, injecting Zoro with the antidote that Usopp had assisted Chopper in making.

"Poisoned, eh? Hah, poison doesn't affect me!" the captain said proudly, puffing out his chest.

"And neither do bullets or any blunt objects," Zoro pointed out, unimpressed with Luffy's list of immunities.

"Or logic or common sense, either, so shut up," Nami said, punching him in the shoulder. The black-haired boy laughed, and Zoro already looked more alert.

"Excuse me, Mr. Doctor," Robin called, poking her head in with a soft smile. "Usopp and Sanji have appeared on the beach as well, but they seem to be struggling. Perhaps you should bring some of that antidote down to them? They're almost back to the ship."

Chopper looked like he was going to hit someone. "Honestly, they should be more careful! Why didn't you all come back together, by the way!" the reindeer snapped, giving Zoro and Nami a look.

The navigator grinned at him. "They had to avenge their nakama."

Chopper nodded. "That makes sense." Nami snorted and watched at the railing as the doctor scurried down to the beach and ran up to the cook and the sniper, and she laughed aloud when she saw Usopp smack Sanji across the face to wake him up, holding him by the front of his collared shirt.

Zoro appeared and stood next to Nami, and the two of them smiled together as they observed Chopper having to transform into his monster-human form in order to carry Sanji back onto the ship.

When the crew was reunited back on the Sunny, and Sanji was chain smoking while he laid on the bed in Chopper's office, trying to wake up, Zoro crossed his arms and looked down at the chef. The rest of the crew had left the room after Sanji was officially treated.

"Shut up, marimo. I don't wanna hear it from you. I'm too tired."

"I wasn't going to say anything."

"Yeah, well… Just don't get any ideas. I would've killed those bastards for touching any member of the crew."

"I know that."

"Right. Well. Good."

Zoro inhaled deeply and glanced around the empty office once more. "Anyway, uh, thank you, all the same."

Sanji grimaced and looked away. "Just shut the fuck up and leave me alone."

The chef turned his head when he heard the door close, and in the silent room, he exhaled the breath he'd been holding.


	21. Blatant

**21.) Blatant**

* * *

"Look at the way he's talking to her!"

"He's… just speaking to her? What are you trying to say, exactly?"

"He looks like some regular dumbass to me."

Sanji was leaning back in his seat between Zoro and Usopp at a dingy bar, balancing his wooden stool on two of its uneven legs. Half the crew had collected there, opting to stay in the town they'd arrived at that evening. And the chef was fuming.

Rocking the barstool back into its regular position, Sanji grabbed his drink and scowled at it, wrenching his eyes away from Nami, who was busy chitchatting with some man at the other side of the bar. Usopp and Zoro both craned their necks back, watching the navigator force an obnoxious laugh and smack the broad stranger on his shoulder.

"It looks like she's just getting some guy to buy her drinks, Sanji."

"Yeah, she's the one manipulating him."

"Better him than us, really."

"How could you say that, you ignorant dicks! Look, look at him, he's just," Sanji was narrowing his eyes, speaking through grit teeth as he turned his attention back onto Nami and the offender, "just being so chummy, he doesn't know her, he's blatantly invading her personal space, he's - look, he's - he's _touching her hair._"

And Sanji was already trying to get out of his seat, fumbling to light a cigarette as Usopp grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Oi, oi, Sanji! Nami can take care of herself, you really don't need to-"

"Nami-san is a beautiful, sweet flower, and she's just too nice to tell him to go fuck off, so I'm going to go over there and make him _fuck off_."

"Too nice to tell him to… are we talking about the same Nami here?"

"Oi, shit cook. You're making an ass of yourself."

Sanji ignored them both and turned to his drink. In a quick motion, he lifted it to his mouth and drained the remaining liquid - nearly half an entire flagon - in several long gulps. Usopp glanced at Zoro, who was glaring at his own beer.

The chef wiped his mouth with the inside of his wrist and gracefully set his empty drink back down on the bar, returning his cigarette to his lips. He straightened his tie and casually walked down to where Nami and her new friend were seated.

Usopp and Zoro drank heavily as they watched their chef tap Nami's acquaintance on the shoulder, cigarette bobbing up and down between his lips as he spoke with a smile. At the man's response to whatever the cook had said to him, they saw Nami put her hand over her face and look up at Sanji through her fingers.

Sucking hard on his cigarette, he burned it down to the butt in a single long breath, stubbing it out in the ash tray on the bar between Nami and the rather large stranger she'd met that night. And then he grabbed the rather large stranger by the front of his shirt and yanked him out of his seat.

Sanji manhandled him towards the tables and shoved him backwards, following quickly with a spinning kick to the side of his head. Nami's friend struggled to get back on his feet.

"Are you going to go over there and stop him?" Usopp asked Zoro as they watched Sanji spit curses and accusations at the other man, his hands resting comfortably in his pockets.

"Why should I?" Zoro tapped his finger on the large flagon he was holding. "That shit cook can go and do what he wants. I don't care if he beats up everyone in here."

"He doesn't normally drink this much. Well, he doesn't normally drink beer all that much in particular, does he?"

Zoro grunted.

Usopp stared down at the dark liquid in his wooden cup, swirling it a little. A bit quietly, he said, "Doesn't it bother you?"

The swordsman looked over at Usopp, pursing his eyebrows together. "Does what bother me?" he asked in a low and steady voice.

The sniper turned his head back towards Sanji, who unleashed a combination of kicks onto his very unfortunate opponent.

"Forget it. Forget I said anything."

The two of them observed as Sanji walked back over to Nami, taking her hands and looking very concerned. She rolled her eyes and laughed and shook her head, and Sanji grinned back at her.

"Doesn't it bother _you?_"

Usopp looked back at Zoro, whose cold, scarred eye was resting on him, like he expected something from the sniper. And then his gaze shifted away from Usopp and focused past him, and the sharpshooter's eyes followed. In silence, they watched Sanji order drinks for Nami and himself, and the navigator looked pleased with the colorful, fancy-looking concoctions they were served, and they toasted and drank, and even when they couldn't hear them, Usopp and Zoro could tell the chef was singing her amorous praises.

Rather than answer the swordsman's question, Usopp finished his drink instead.


End file.
